Pete Rock Says Hip-Hop Lost Its Integrity Chasing Money

While the last year has been celebratory for Hip-Hop due to 50th anniversary celebrations, there have also been several negative discussions on its current state. Pete Rock believes that the downfall of Hip-Hop was caused by people chasing money instead of maintaining integrity.

The Bronx producer shared a clip of Erick Sermon sharing his thoughts on Hip-Hop’s current “unrecognizable” state and added his sentiments in the caption. “They should change the music too WTF,” the 53-year-old DJ wrote. “Tryna create a narrative that aint working. Pile driving the culture straight in the ground. We created real history! Idk what da hell they creating today but it damn sure aint history or hip hop thats a fact. We lost our integrity chasing the money. The bag as they say has become the problem and the focus point in the culture. Makes it corny when yall make it about money smh.”

He added that people often get too sensitive about other people’s opinions and immediately call them haters instead of hearing them out. “We all out here working to make better music,” he wrote. “Why don’t [you] try and do the same thing?” Check out the post below.

Lil Yachty spoke on Hip-Hop being in a terrible place back in November, though he focused more on the creative aspect than the monetary gain.

“The state of Hip-Hop right now is a lot of imitation,” he said. “It’s a lot of quick, low-quality music being put out. It’s a lot less risk-taking, it’s a lot less originality. People are too safe now. Everyone is so safe. I rather take the risk than take the L.”

Hip-Hop’s waning dominance was supported by it having far less impact on the charts in 2023. The first Hip-Hop album to go No. 1 came in June with Lil Uzi Vert’s Pink Tape. Before that, Metro Boomin had the last No. 1 album with his December 2022 effort Heroes & Villains.

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